That's right, REGARDLESS of your tendency if you're a U.S. based leftist you've probably heard this too many times to count:

"I'd love to organize a strike or sit-in, but I can't lose my job."

"I don't have time to volunteer for a political party."

"Revolution??? I just need healthcare"

Then you'd be shocked to know that historically speaking, some of the greatest steps in US leftist organizing has been with the lumpenproletariate. I'm talking the Black Panthers, The Young Lords, Eugene Debbs, the IWW, Caesar Chavez, Stonewall, etc.

That's because the labor aristocracy bribes the working class in the imperial core with concessions. In Europe and LA these victories are often negotiated through labor organizations, but since those are gutted in the US people buy into the system to get any quality of life assurance. Buy a home, get a 401k, buy bonds, etc. Lucky for the revolution, the west is pushing more and more people who benefit from the system out of it.

Marx defines the lumpen as the lower classes who are not politically organized, but I choose a looser interpretation. Within the US, I'm referring to "displaced" people who are excluded from mainstream society in some form or another. I'm talking incarcerated/previously incarcerated folks, unhoused folks, LGBTQ+, undocumented people, criminal elements. Through official or unofficial means, these are the people that get excluded from the majority of benefits from government services or economic growth. They will be the most receptive to the idea of a new system.

Labor organizations and political parties are important to infiltrate and contend with as well, but these get FAR too much attention in discourse. I think the groups that are excluded from normative society have much more revolutionary potential (and in the US a FAR greater material need for help). Foods Not Bombs is good, also check out your local cities homeless advocacy. Also would appreciate a more modern term for "lumpen" if y'all have ideas.